Anger over Fear
by Leanna Y
Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and their friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of their friends
1. Just Thinking About Friends

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

This is my fist fanfic ever. Try to be nice, and tell me what you think. If you don't know, this is from Shirako's point of view, just because I like him the best. A lot of what is written in here is just from how I think of the characters, like Shirako's relationship with Kurma. So please don't be upset if you're reading this and thinking you never notice this in the movie.

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_Chapter one:_

_Just Thinking about friends_

It had been raining heavily over the last few weeks, which resulted in everyone in the city to stay indoors. Shirako did not mind staying in the house for a few days, but after a few weeks of not doing anything but uploading new tunes, he was bored out off his frigging mind.

Of course the rest of the Teku and the Metal maniacs weren't doing any better. It had always been a rule with Tone, that there was no racing when it's raining as bad as it was now. Half the time you couldn't see due to the water. But the main reason was that the tires ended up sliding, and when you're moving at 200 km/h. and over, well nothing good could come of it. Shirako gave a small smile; Nolo had kept a lot of Tone's rules when he became the leader. Nolo didn't notice, but he had become as good as a leader as Tone was. Tone would have been proud. Of course, it seems that Tork has the same rule. Shirako chuckled; he heard from Kurt that Porkchop was losing his mind due to boredom. Kurt and Markie were now living together, which meant that Kurt got a lot of information on each of the Metal Maniacs now.

Luckily today everyone was going out for a picnic. Karma had thought it would be a good idea to enjoy the sunshine for the first time in weeks. Of course, that meant that everyone form the Teku and the Metal Maniacs were coming. Kurt and Markie were still getting back into being loving brothers and were spending a lot of time together. And since Markie was coming so was the rest of the Metal Maniacs. Not that anybody minded. After rescuing Vert from the Silencers and defeating the drones, everyone was a lot closer now. Of course, fighting against evil drones, hidden silencers, with the knowledge that one wrong move could get you killed might've helped too. Never mind the fact that if they tolled anyone else they would be labeled as nut cases too. Still, Shirako was sure that Karma wouldn't mind at all. Considering how she looks at Taro all the time. Shirako had a bet with himself that Taro was going to ask her out in about two weeks. There was this fancy restaurant opening next week, and with Taro being rich, he could afford to take Karma there and not worry about the cost. Vert and Nolo haven't got the slightest clue about Karma's crush. Kurt had a suspicion, and Shirako knew from the very beginning. Shirako may act like he doesn't pay attention, but Shirako watches people. It's how he knew that Karma likes Taro and how Taro likes her back. Of course, Karma was like an older sister to him, and Shirako made it his duty to know how she was feeling. The second he found out that she had a crush on Taro; Shirako had watched Taro like a hawk to see if he was good enough for Ksrma. After about two weeks, Shirako felt safe to say, that Tsro would never harm Ksrma, and that if it worked out he would probably be able to make Karma very happy. A lot of people considered Karma to be very cold hearted, yet Shirako was sure that out of everyone, Taro would understand that just because Karma doesn't express her feelings, docent mean she doesn't have them.

Shirako uploaded one more song before he decided that he better get going. He looked in the mirror to check his appearance, he may not be vain, but he still liked to look good. He saw a boy around 17 and 18 with a slim and almost delicate figure. That was actually one of the reasons why Shirako put so many cloths on, was the simple fact that he hated his figure. He was slim, almost to the point that he looked like a girl, and no matter how mush he ate, he had yet to gain a single pound. His sister hated him for that, but Shirako would do anything to just be a bit bigger. To bad willing yourself to grow doesn't work. He gave a sigh and decided that mopping wasn't going to help either. He raced down the stares and grabbed the cupcakes that he had baked this morning. Since there were so many people coming, everyone decided that it would be easier if everyone just made one thing and shared it at the picnic. Shirako said that he would bring dessert, and he figured cupcakes were the best choice. Of course he wasn't going to tell the other that he made them, just tell them that his sister made them. Karma would be the only one to know that he made them due to the simple fact that his sister could not cook to save her life. His parents were divorced which meant that when his mother worked late and traveled a lot for meetings, Shirako had to learn to cook and bake if he did not want to starve to death, or get food posing from his sister. Shirako never tolled anyone, but he actually found it relaxing to cook, plus not to brag but he was good at it too.

Shirako got in the car, put the muffins on the seat beside him, and turned the key. As the car started, he paused for a minute, and then turned the music on as load as it could go. Let's see how far away Porkchop is, when he start's to hear Shirako's music. One of the reason's why Shirako puts his music on so load, was the simple fun of annoying Porkchop. He got so funny when he got angry. His face turns red, and then he has to bite down on that bone he wears's around his neck while he growls under his breath. Shirako never said it out loud, but Porkchop always looks like a caveman when he gets like that. If it wasn't for the simple fact that Porkchop would never seriously harm Shirako, he would probably be dead by now. Shirako had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that he didn't get scared around Porkchop. A lot of people saw Porkchop size, the way he dressed and the fact that he races as a sign to stay away from him. Porkchop wasn't stupid, he may act like a simpleton, but he wasn't stupid. The minute that Porkchop looked like he was getting angry, people had a habit of taking a step back around him. Not that Shirako blamed them, considering Porkchop's size, and yet Shirako didn't. Porkchop could swing his fists and yell threats, yet in the end all Shirako did was just laugh or act like he couldn't hear him. And Porkchop even if he never said it, found it refreshing to yell, cure and even threaten at least one guy without having him piss his pants in fright. Shirako knew that if Porkchop wanted, he could just crush Shirako's windpipe without even trying. Yet Shirako just it fun to get Porkchop riled up, and see how long Porkchop can yell at him before he losses his breath.

As Shirako drove to the park they were all meeting, he couldn't help but think that everyone was a little bit more relaxed and happy after everything they had been through. Thought there was still rivalry between the two teams, it had become more of a friend's competition then anything else. Though they still had there fights and disagreements, no one was trying to kill the other now. Shirako turned the corner and parked his car on the side of the curve. He couldn't help but give a laugh at the look on Porkchop's face. If glares could kill, Shirako was sure that he would be six feet under.


	2. Walking with Friends

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers, and all that

Second chapter: walking with friends

Hey there. I want to thank Zeni, lol I can't believe I spelled Karma's and Taro's name wrong. Thank you for your review, hopefully you enjoy this chapter as well. Anyway I tried to fix my mistake in this chapter, so hopefully it's a bit better. Alright, like I have said before, sorry about spelling mistakes, and I would love to hear all of your thoughts on this story.

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_Chapter Two:_

_Walking with Friends_

Shirako turned his engine off, and with it the sweet music he was listening too. He got out of the car, and made sure that the cupcakes that he had spent two houre on making were tucked under his arm. He looked around and spied the others sitting around a wooden bench with old red paint that had come off during the long years through the weather, and started towards them. Kurt, Markie, Porkchop, Vert and Karma were all there, with Porkchop, Markie and Kurt on one side and Vert and Karma on the other side. Looking at the watch around his wrist, he realized that there was about another 5 minutes before the time on which they had all agreed to meet. As he passed Porkchop, Shirako turned his head and gave him the brightest smile he could mange.

"Why you little good for nothing…" Porkchop growled under his breath, while giving him a glare.

"Yo, guys. Karma, how's it going?" Shirako asked, ignoring Porkchop as usual.

Karma was at the moment wearing a dark blue smug sweater. It was a nice sweater that showed off her shape, but was not overly tight. She was wearing used jeans, and had a jacket tied around her waist for later use. Over all, she was dressed for the weather. Considering that it had been raining for the last few days, it was not as warm out as people would have liked. Thought, it was not to cold out either, which meant that if everyone just put a sweater on they should be fine, Shirako was wearing his usual over-big pants with a belt that held them up. He had on two long sleeved shirts, both black and his hand gloves. And to top it off his heavy white vest and his earphones, which at the moment were on low. Kurt and Vert both had jackets on and jeans as well. Kurt was still wearing his orange sunglasses, of course so was Shirako. Porkchop was wearing a big Black sweater, with some scull patches on the arms, and his usual pants. Markie had a long black coat and was wearing black gloves.

After they had met with the Acceleracers, Tezzla had created a coating for Markie's robot arm. It was basically like a glove, but a lot more realistic, so much so that you could only tell it was a glove if you really looked closely. Of course, Tezzla didn't have mush of a choice of making it or not, considering the look everyone was giving him when Tork proposed the idea. Kurt was a bit afraid of how others would react when they saw Markie's new arm. Just by the simple fact that the technology was way out of human's rate of technology. Anyway, they figured it was better to be safe then sorry. Least Markie end up as some government project, trying to gain the new technology in his arm. So now, Markie did not have to hide his arm in front of other people. Of course when he was alone with the Teku and metal maniacs, he preferred to not wear the glove. Overall, everyone was dressed for the weather.

Karma gave him a quick glance, and then rolled her eyes at his little smile to Porkchop. Of course if you looked closely you could see the corners of her mouth curve just the slightest bit upward.

"The others should be here soon. Here, just put the food in the center of the table, when everyone else gets here we can walk thought that path over there and have a picnic in the clearing behind the trees. It's about a 15 minute walk from here, but it's a really nice place. There is a river that runs right beside the area."

As Karma spoke, she pointed out toward an area of trees. Sure enough there was a path that went right thought the middle. At the moment, they were in a clearing right now, with a few trees standing tall around them. There was a jungle gym a few feet away for the kids, which at the moment had about 4 or 5 running around; and the bunch of tree with the path was meant as a trail for people to walk their dogs. Shirako himself had never been here, since it was a bit far from his house as a kid, but Karma had said that it was a nice place to have the picnic.

Shirako placed his cupcakes with the rest of the food, while at the same time took a quick glance at what the other's had brought. There were sandwiches, nachos, brownies, a container with different kinds of fruit, and three different jugs of juice. Over all, it looked pretty good. Shirako then sat beside Karma, while listening to Vert explain this new game that he had just bought to Kurt.

It wasn't long before all the other made it. Each one of them of them wearing either long sleeved sweaters, or light jackets. Lani came with nice fitting Jeans and a red jacket. Nolo took one long glance then quickly looked the other way. Shirako always found it funny how both of them liked each other, yet at the same time was shy about it. Surprising it was Taro who was the last to arrive.

"Jeez man, what took you? Blow a tire or something?" Monkey yelled out as Taro made his was across the clearing. Like the rest of them, he had parked his car on the side of the road, and had the food he was bringing tucked under his arm. Shirako noticed just as a side note, that even thought his jacket looked worn out and a bit fried, if you looked closely you could see that it was made with very good quality. Taro always had good stuff, yet at the same time you only noticed it if you looked closely. Taro had never shown off being rich at all.

"Sorry, got stuck behind this slow old couple out for their Sunday afternoon drive."

"Next time you should just drive them off the road, it would make everyone else a bit happier" Markie laughed

"Anyway," Tork said to get the rest of his teams attention "how about we start moving, or do you guys plan to eat here, with the little kids?"

Vert gave a small chuckle, but looked the other way when Markie and Porkchop both glared at him. "Come on Teku, you don't want to be left behind." Nolo said, taking Tork's order as a que to get his own team moving as well.

Everyone got up from the bench that they had been sitting at, graded their food and started walking toward the path thought the trees that Karma had pointed out earlier.

"So, like are there going to be wild animals, or what?" Monkey said while looking around nervously.

"Ha Ha, don't worry Monkey-man, just let them try to came and get us, I'll teach them a lesson about hunting myself." Porkchop said loudly.

"There are no wild animals here; there are too much people here. The most you'll get is a few rabbits, birds, and squares." Karma said at the front of the line.

Shirako just smiled and tried not to trip on the rocks and sticks that littered the path. Thought it was worn away from people walking on it, there were still tree roots that you had to look out for, and the occasional big rock or two. The path wasn't too small, so there was about three of them walking side by side. There was a bunch of big trees that gave testimony that this place had been left alone for hundreds of years before humans had decided to turn this into a park for people. Vert gave another cure on Shirako's right, and smacked his hand.

"Fucking bug's" he said as an explanation to a few of the other's looks.

"How far do we have to walk for?" Taro asked, on Karma's left.

"Not too far now, just up this hill, and then there's a bridge we have to cross and that's it. The area's on the other side of the bridge."

"Hey. I can hear water!" Nolo said.

Shirako paused his music, and sure enough, there was the sound of rushing water. It had been dimmed down due to the trees, but the closer they got the loader the sound became.

"So, um, just how much water is there? Are we talking a tiny little river, or one of those big rivers?" Porkchop asked. Shirako noticed just how Porkchop seemed to grow just the tiniest bit tense at the thought. Tork and Monkey both gave Porkchop a look as well, seems he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Well its fair sized, it's a lot bigger now then what it usually is since we have had so much rain the last few weeks, but the bridge will hold us, so there nothing to worry about."

Porkchop seemed to not believe her, but he took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

Soon enough, as they followed the path, they came to the bridge that Karma had been talking about before. It was about as wide as the path, so three people could walk side by side without felling cramp. It was made out of golden tinted wood that gave it this nice newish glow to it. All of the wood that was used was left as round timbers that gave the bridge a thick look to it. Porkchop gave it a look, and relaxed. As they stepped on the bridge, even the floor was used with round timbers, it was a bridge you would expect to see with a wooden cabin on the other side. But it held everyone up, and looked to be quite a few feet long.

"You better watch it Teku, cause if you annoy me you're all going over." Markie threatened with a smirk.

"We'll see who it is that goes over, little brother" Kurt teased back with a smile.

Under them the river rushed with a loud roar. The edge of the path that they had been following had steeply gone right down into a fast moving body of water. Looking over the sides of the bridge, you could see that the river looked to be quite deep. But like Karma had said, it was only a few feet under them, the river was a lot higher then it usually is due to the amount of rain that they have had over the weeks. Porkchop was walking right in the middle of the bridge, and was a good few meters in front of them, due to the speed that he was walking at.

"Hey, just so you all know, if you jump, I ain't gonna save you" Nolo yelled with a laugh.

"Darn, guess I'll just have to find someone else to save poor little me" Lani replied with a smile

"Don't worry Lani, if it was you that fell in the river, Nolo would be right behind you to try and save you from cretin death" Vert yelled out and laugh. This resulted in Nolo turning bright red and Lani going a slight pink from pride.

"Alright little children, we're here" Karma said with a smile. And sure enough, after they had crossed the bridge, there was a clearing a few feet away. Markie gave Kurt a look, and then ran as fast as he could to the clearing. After that everyone was running trying to get there first, before the others could follow. Shirako joined the fun, if only to see if he could beat Porkchop. As he passed Karma and Taro, he smiled and wave, they both just rolled their eyes.

"Aww fuck man" Vert yelled out from behind. Since he was the last to start the race, he was lagging behind. Shirako was running at full speed, and jeez man, the clearing looked a lost closer then it actually was. Yet Shirako was a lot faster then he looks. He was slim and small; he figured he had to have something that put in the same leagues as the rest of the other big guys out there. Soon enough, he passed both Nolo and Lani who had decided to join in the fun. Monkey was coming up too, and Porkchop was just a little bit ahead of him, Shirako smile, he could make it. Of course there was no way he could catch Markie and Kurt considering the head start they both had. One quick glance showed him that though Markie was winning, Kurt was right behind him and giving him a challenge for the title of the 'fist one to make it to the clearing.' Shirako looked back at Monkey, saw that Porkchop was only one or two steps ahead, and then Shirako put a burst of speed on. His legs were already starting to burn, considering the sprint that he was doing, but he ignored it. It would be worth it when Porkchop saw him race by him. Come on, Shirako hissed to himself, he passed monkey, who gave a small yelp of surprise and then he was right beside Porkchop. Porkchop gave him a look, and tried to pick up his speed. Yet he as already panting, and speed was not one of his strong skills in strength. Shirako waved to him and raced ahead. Number one rule, don't slow down. A lot of people make that mistake, and end up having the person that they just pass, pass them back. Shirako kept his head up, and saw that both Markie and Kurt were already sitting down and waiting. He smiled to them as he finally ran up to them. Shirako paused, and tried to even his breath out. He had a great urge to sit down, but decided it might be safer to stand up so that he can jump back if Porkchop tries to do anything.

"Shit man, you don't look that entirely fucking fast." Markie said, referring to Shirako's speed of passing almost everyone in front of him.

"Ha, I think that all it took was the right motivation" Kurt chuckled while looking at something over Shirako's shoulder. And sure enough Porkchop came panting up behind him

"Don't think this is the end you little punk. It was just a lucky chance that you won, nothing more." Porkchop growled, or at least tried to between panting for his breath.

Shirako smiled, he had already evened his own breath out for just this reason alone.

"Don't tell me you're out of breath already Porkchop, you better be careful that you don't get out of shape."

"What!! Why you little I'll show you who's in shape when I break your fucking legs!!"

Shirako jumped back when Porkchop made a grab for him.

"Whatever man" Shirako replied with a laugh as he put his music back on, and then just to throw salt into the wounds, made sure that it was loud enough for Porkchop to hear each beat clearly.

"Jesus Shirako, when did you get so fast?" Lani replied as she and Nolo caught up with them. They both look around for places to sit, and moved to sit down on Kurt's left. Porkchop and Monkey were both sitting beside Markie, while Porkchop was biting down on the bone around his neck, a clear sign that he was pissed. Nolo looked at Porkchop, turned his head, smiled and shook his head at Shirako's little display of friendly competition.

"So who won?" Nolo asked while looking at the two brothers.

"I did of course." Markie said

"The only reason you won is because you said so the minute I was about to pass you" Kurt argued back

"I was the first one to make it to the clearing, and if you would look around, you would see that we are in a clearing." Markie snorted.

"Well now that you all have made it safely to our picnic site, would you guys like to start eating, or should we have another race for you guys" Karma said a few feet away with Taro and Tork right behind her. They had all decided to let the younger racers have their fun while they just walked to the clearing.

Tork chuckled "Good idea, how about the first person to jump into the river wins?"

"Ha ha, very funny asshole." Markie said with as much sarcasm as he could master

"Eating sounds good right now. And anyway, wouldn't want to embarrass Markie with a defeat now would we." Kurt joked. Which resulted in him getting a punch to the arm from Markie.

Yet as they all laughed and got ready to have their picnic, away from their eyes and ears, none of them would notice that the bridge they had all just walked across gave a small morn, and moved a few inches to the right. And how with that move, the sturdy ground that had held up that bridge ever since it was made, sunk down to the earth as it became more like mud then ground , weighted down with all of the water it had socked up from the rain.

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Hint Hint, Nudge Nudge. :P I'm sure you can all figure out what's going to happen in the next few chapters. Anyway I hope that you enjoyed my work, and hopefully another chapter will be coming up soon!!


	3. The River Below

Soon enough, everyone had their food out, and was digging in

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

Third chapter: The River below

Here we go, finally some action happiness now. Hopefully you like it, and don't forget to tell me what you think about it.

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_Chapter Three:_

_The River below_

Soon enough, everyone had their food out, and was digging in. There was salad, fruit, sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, cheese and crackers, and so much more. All the while they talked of the jobs they where working at, family, and about racing. Jokes, stories, and laughter was heard as they talked about everything, and yet nothing in particular.

"…so then the guy said 'well I never knew about that!' Ha-ha, you guys get it, knew about that?" Monkey burst into laughter at his own joke, until he noticed he was the only one. "Aaa, I guess you had to have been there to, um, get it."

"I'm sure that it was hilarious at the time, Monkey. Hey Nolo, I heard you're planning on going to collage next year." Kurt said

Nolo swallowed the grape that he was eating, and put the glass of juice in his hand down. "Well actually I'm going to take the year off, you know, like to just have some fun before I go back into school and studying. I tolled my parents, and while they aren't happy about my choice, they sad that it wasn't a big deal to just take a year off. Anyway, there is this collage I got my eye on, and I think that my marks are high enough to get into it, so I should be fine."

"What are you planning on doing?" Taro asked

Nolo blinked, but other then that he showed no other sigh that he was surprised that Taro was interested. "Well, I want to be a carptner. I took wood building in high school, and I like it. I made my own table, chair and a cabinet. So there is this collage that teaches specifically different kinds of carpentry. I don't know what area I want to specialize in yet, but I figure that I at least have a start."

"That sounds cool; I want to be an Auto teacher. I don't mind dealing with kids, plus I can work on cars all day." Vert said with a smile

'I'm taking over my father's bar when he retires. It's a nice place and I know all the regular customers as well." Tork said

"Your father owns a bar? What's it called?" Nolo asked

"The shallow moon. It's a not a bad place, it's popular on the weekends, and during the week you usually have a study pace of customers. I use to help my father out when I was younger, so I already know how to run it."

"What about you Porkchop?" Tork asked

"Hmm, me? I want to be a truck driver, I love driving trucks all day, and living on the road. I figure that if I find a place where I want to settle dawn, then I can do something like working on cars, or building." Porkchop turned his head and smirked,"So what are you planning on doing when you get older Shirako, or are you planning on living with your parents for the rest of your life and listing to music. Probably enjoy that life."

Shirako rolled his eyes, but at the same time tried to hide the smile tugging at his lips. "Nope, there is this old building that's been abandon for about 10 years now. Nobody wants to tear it down due to the fact that it will cost money. Anyway, it's not in too much of a bad state. I figure that if I can fix it up, I can start my own dance club. We don't have one near where I live, so everyone has to go to the next city. I can have music going all night, and during the day, I can work somewhere else as a side job. I've been saving up for the building for about three years now. Plus I took business and some other course that I think will help me out. I don't know how long it's going to take. But I think that in about another five years, I can have the place up and running."

"You'll have to call me and let me know when you have it running, so I can drop by." Karma said.

"Hey, what about you Karma?" Lani asked.

"Well I want to do something with business. I'm really good at numbers, and plus I find it relaxing. And you?"

"I'm studying to become a nurse. I like working with people." Lani replied

"That sounds awesome; I'm going to fix cars later on." Monkey said,

"Well I don't know what I want to do yet, and I really don't care at the moment. Anyway, would you mind not hogging all the desserts Vert, or am I going to have to fight you for them?" Markie yelled out to Vert

"Ya ya, all you had to do was ask. Besides, these are good. Especially the cupcakes that Shirako brought. Make sure you tell your sister that I like her cooking." Everyone else added in their agreements', and slowly started to finish the food that they had been eating

Shirako tried not to flush with pride, considering the fact that the others did not know it was really him that had made the cupcakes. Karma smiled at him, and graded one of the few remaining cupcakes, "they actually are very well done, make sure you say so to you sister." Shirako blushes a bit at Karma's hidden complement and started to pack up the food as everyone was either done or just about done.

As they started to walk back to the bridge, Shirako walked a bit behind Karma and Taro, and just listen to them talk. It was nice to hear Karma open up to someone, even if it was just small talk. It was usually very hard to get her to open up to people that she doesn't know very well, yet with Taro, he seemed to be just the right person to get her to talk more.

"Actually, I'm taking over my father's business." Taro replied to Karma's question of what he was doing later on in life. "So is this a popular area for people, or did you just happen to find it?" Taro asked.

"It used to be a very popular area a few years's ago, but over the year's the river has started to rise, and a lot of parents did not want their children to play by the river. There was this incident a few years ago where a grown man fell into the river, and was taken down a few kilometers to the rapids and was crushed by the forces of him hitting the rocks. Well, you know how children like to go near rivers and see if they can catch frogs and all that. Parents were afraid that their children might be accidently swept away, and drowned. So you don't see kid's plays around here anymore, and all you get is a few people now and then.

"That's too bad, it's a very nice place to just relax and have some fun." Taro replied with a smile. Even from the front of the line, you could still hear the other's talking among themselves with cheerful voices.

"You know, we should have a race tonight, considering that the roads are finally dry now. Plus it would be a nice way for the day to end." Monkey suggested as they got closer to the bridge.

"You know what Monkey, that doesn't sound like a bad ideal. What about you Nolo, your team feels like racing tonight?" Tork asked

"Hey, the Teku is always ready to race." Nolo yelled out

"Monkey and a good idea, I guess miracles really do happen." Vert sniggered from behind, which had Kurt snort from Vert's left.

When they both shut up, Shirako figured that either Porkchop or Markie had glared at them. Of, course both of them could have done it too. As they were walking on the bridge, Tork and Nolo were both deciding the time for the race. The river rushed under them with its roar still splitting the air, when for a moment the ground under their feet gave just the smallest twitch. Shirako and Porkchop both froze at the same time. Both of them had been paying more attention to their surroundings then anyone else at the moment. The other's stopped talking for a moment when they saw how still Shirako and Porkchop had both became.

"Yo man, what's up?" Nolo asked when Shirako did not give an explanation to his sudden stop on the bridge.

When nothing happened, Shirako unhook his headphones from his ears and let out a breath he had not realize that he had been holding.

"Nothing man, it's just my imagination. Sorry" Shirako said a bit uneasily. He could have sworn that he felt something. As he started to walk again, that's when it hit.

A loud groan echoed in the air, and with it the bridge they had all been standing on gave a sudden jolt. The air was filled with yelps of surprise and pain as almost everyone was knocked off their feet, and fell to the hard wood. Shirako and everyone else flung their heads to the right, the way they had just walked across a few mere moments ago. Had it been any other time, Shirako would have laughed at how everyone did a whip lash of moving their heads to the right at the same time, almost like a group of rabbits. Yet as they all stared, there was two seconds of absolute silence, even the rushing water below seem to pause for just a second, _one beat, two beats_, and then with another, almost final groan the ground where the bridge, at one end had been standing on turned to mud and broke apart right before their eyes. And with it, one angle of the bridge slid right off the edge of the bank and fell into the water with a loud splash. Shirako had no time to think, only to grad on to the closest thing by him, as the bridge was no longer straight, but going down, and at an angle as well. His hand graded onto the railing that was at the top of the now new slide, and his arm burst into pain as his body gave a yank as it finally stopped sliding down the bridge. Shirako gave a quick glance around to see how the others were holding out. Kurt was holding on to the railing like Shirako was, Markie had dug his metal arm into the wood, and was slowly making his way over to the other side. Monkey had both his arms around the edge of the bridge, and Lani was helping Nolo climb up the bridge to were she was. But that was all the time Shirako had to look, for almost as soon as Shirako thought that everything was done, there came one more high pitch sound. He looked down, and saw with a new found sense of horror; that the railing on the other side of the bridge, that Porkchop, Karma and Vert were holding on to as to not fall into the water, was coming apart. The nails that had been holding the railing to the bridge were coming out. Shirako didn't even have time to call out as he watched the railing finally give out and fall to the river below. Porkchop fell with the railing, as he had been holding on to it with a death grip, even when it had fallen off. Karma and Vert both fell into the river right after Porkchop, as they had nothing to hold onto. Shirako watched as they both disappeared in the white moving mass for a second, and then watched as they both came gasping back up. Then they were already moving down the river, away with the current.

Taro gave a yell from somewhere on Shirako's left, and dove into the water after Karma. Tork gave a curse and jumped in right after Taro. Shirako already had let go off the railing and was already running/sliding down to the river. Shirako saw right away what Tork and the others had missed, if he didn't do something, one of his friends were going to drown.

Shirako hit the water, and went under. And for a moment, all sound was distorted, and all he could hear was the water, he felt as if he was being twisted about. For a second, Shirako feared that he was going to die. The water graded his clothes and pulled him down. He couldn't get back to the top,_ oh God, I can't breath._ He had to bite his lip to keep from gasping. As his head finally broke the surface, he had to take another deep breath as another wave came rushing by. The water was cold, to the point were he could already feel his fingers go numb. But that was all he had time to think, before he had to fight the current to stay above the water. The water was all around; trying to twist him and send him under all the time. He tried to see, but his vision kept getting moved to someplace else almost to fast for Shirako's mind to keep up. The roar of it was defining and ever going on. He was flying down the river, and he had to keep blinking to see clearly from all of the spray. His legs and arms were already starting to burn, just trying to keep his body above the water, while his cloths weighted him down. He squinted, and tried to see Tork, even with the waves going over his head. Shirako gave another gasp of air as he felt himself go under for another few seconds. As he came back up, gasping, he spotted Tork trying to make his way to Porkchop. Shirako began to swim with all of his might; he had to get to Tork. Shirako took in another breath of air, as he went under again, he pushed himself back up, he had to keep his eyes on Tork and Porkchop, or he would lose them in the current. Luckily, Shirako was a bit lighter then Tork, which meant that he could let the river carry him to Tork. Finally, Shirako made it to wear Tork was swimming.

"TOR-!" Another wave pushed Shirako under the water again. Shirako kicked with his legs, and got his head above the water once again. It was an ongoing battle to just keep his head above the water.

"TORK!** TORK!!" **Shirako screamed out.

Tork turned his head, and tried to swim towards Shirako. But he was fighting the current to do this, and wasn't getting anywhere.

"You have to go after Vert!! I will get Porkchop!!" Shirako called out, while pointing to Vert to his right. From here he spied Taro reaching out to Karma. Shirako didn't have time to dwell on how they were doing, only the time to trust that Taro would be able to save Karma. It was Vert that needed help right now. Vert was light, and because of this he did not have the strength to swim against the current. If Tork went after Porkchop, Vert would drown, yet if he left Porkchop, Porkchop would drown as well. That's why Shirako had jumped in. If he could get to Porkchop, he might be able to help Porkchop swim to the bank. He couldn't help Vert, since he had the same problem of being too light. But he could help Porkchop, and Tork could help Vert

Tork looked at him; even from here Shirako could see the hesitation on the other man's face. But they didn't have time to think about it, the current was sending each of them further apart from the others. Tork looked at him, and with a grim faced nodded, and started to swim to Vert., who at the moment was fighting to just stay above the water.

Without any further prompting, Shirako started to swim towards Porkchop. As another wave came crashing down on top of him, Shirako felt himself grow cold as he heard Karma's voice echoing in his mind so load and clearly that he forgot for a second where he was; _There was this incident_ a _few years ago where a grown man fell into the river, and was taken down a few kilometers to the rapids and was crushed by the forces of him hitting the rocks. _At the speed the water was taking them down the river, they had about maybe ten minutes to get out of the river before they were crushed by the rocks at the end. With that thought in his mind, Shirako put all of his might into trying to get to Porkchop as fast as he could.


	4. Anger Over Fear

"TORK

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

Third chapter: The River below

Alright people. Here is the chapter that will earn the story's title, and my favorite chapter to write so far. Hope you enjoy it

--

_Chapter Four:_

_Anger over Fear_

"TORK!** TORK!!" **Shirako screamed out.

Tork turned his head to the dim sound of his name over the river. The first thing he saw was Shirako fighting the current to just stay above the water. _When did he fall in?_ Tork watched as another wave slammed into Shirako, and Shirako's head disappeared for a moment. _Oh_ _Fuck! _Tork tried to swim towards Shirako, before the kid ended up at the bottom of the river, drowned. Yet by doing this he ended up fighting against the current, and the truth was that he was having enough trouble trying to stay above the water. Though luckily, not nearly as bad as Shirako was.

"You have to go after Vert!! I will get Porkchop!!" For a moment, Tork wondered if he had heard right. Yet as Tork turned his head to look to where Vert was, he saw that Vert was doing just as bad as Shirako was. If he did not get help soon, Tork knew that Vert would not be able to fight the current for long. And yet, Porkchop was his teammate, his responsibility. Tork turned his head, and saw Shirako_. Fucking kid looks like he needs saving himself. _He had to make a decision now; the current was already tearing them apart, weaving and hooking onto them. Tork took one look at Shirako, and nodded. Shirako trusted him to save Vert, so he had to trust that Shirako would save Porkchop. And pray to God that they both did not end up drowning. After that, they both did not waste any time for words, and Tork turned his head to where Vert was swimming. He kept his eyes sorely on Vert, all it would take is a moment for Vert to disappear, and Tork might not be able to find him again. The river teared at his clothes, yet Tork was a big guy, and he was strong. He would not let the river have its way with him. He was already straining and panting, as he slowly made his way over to where Vert was. With a last lunge in the river, Tork grabbed onto Vert's sleeve. Vert spun his head around and saw that it was Tork that had graded onto him.

"Tork-" He gasped out "What are you doing, you have to get to the rivers bank."

"Shirako tolled me to help you out, and by the look of it, he had the right ideal. Grab onto my shoulder, and don't let go. I'm goanna start to swim towards the edge." Tork screamed over the river's sound

Even with them being as close as they were, Vert could barely make out what Tork was saying over the river. He nodded once, and with his hands began to slowly make his way to Tork's shoulder. Once there, he held on with all of his might, and hoped that the river would stop trying to pull them apart. They were still racing down the river, and Vert knew if he fell off, he was dead.

Tork slowly began to swim across the current, _just another few meters, that's all_. As they got closer to the edge, the current began to lessen just the tinniest bit. _Almost there_. His foot hit a rock, and Tork was no longer swimming, but climbing the sandy and rock filled shore. Soon enough the river was only reaching up to Tork's waist. Luckily, the slop was not as bad as it was near the bridge, but it was still a bit steep. There was the smallest splash, as Vert suddenly let go of Tork's shoulder, and fell on all fours.

"Come on, all it takes is just one big wave to send us right back into that hell" Tork panted. They had to get as far away from the river, and find out if the others made it out ok.

Vert made it slowly to his feet, and just as Tork suggested, began to climb up the shore. Though it was not as bad as other places Vert had climb, they were both exhausted, and ended up sliding down almost as mush as they were climbing up. After about a good twenty minutes, at the end in which Tork was cursing like a drunk, due to the simple fact, that it really should have only taken them 5 minutes. As he got to the top, Tork reached down and graded the younger mans arm, who once at the top fell down exhausted.

"What about the others?" Vert gasped out.

"I hope to God they made it out, but we won't find out anything if we just sit here like ducks. Come on; let's see if we can find out if the others made it out of the river all right." With that said, Tork slowly and painfully made it to his feet; he knew that tomorrow he was going to be a hurting puppy when his muscles decided to get revenge on him for his little 'work out'.

They had only walked about a few feet, when they heard yelling off in the distinct. Tork looked up from his feet, it was the only reason he had not tripped yet, and saw Taro and Karma running towards him. At least they had all ended up on the same side of the river, though truthfully, at the time Tork really hadn't cared what side he swam to, as long as it was out of the river.

"Where's Porkchop?" Toro asked

Tork took one look at Taro, and flinched. He was soaking wet, and his long hair had been freed of his hair tie. This resulted in his hair just full of knots, and all over the place. He was panting, and looked a bit pale around the edges. Karma was in no better condition, her hair looking like a mop, with her makeup gone, and her cloths wet and in disarray. Of course, Tork knew that he did not look any better. Being washed away in a raging river did not help one's looks in the least.

"Shirako swam after him; hopefully Shirako is able to help Porkchop get over his fear of water, just long enough for them to swim to shore."

"You can't mean that Shirako and Porkchop are still being carried away in the river can you?" Karma demanded with fear in her wide eyes.

Tork looked at Karma, "ya, Porkchop was heading down the stream, and Shirako said he would go after Porkchop. Why, what's wrong?!"

"There are rapids down the river, a few kilometers from here. If they hit the rocks, both of them will be killed!!" We have to help them!" Karma shouted out, she turned around and started to run.

Tork's hand reached out and grabbed onto her wrist, stopping her from her full out running.

"Does Shirako know this?" Tork asked, he knew for a fact that Porkchop had no idea of this. If Shirako knew, then he might know how important it was to get out of the river before it was too late.

Karma froze, and thought for a moment. She looked up, and with sorrow on her face, "Yes, he was behind me and Taro when I was telling Taro about it."

"What! You mean he went after Porkchop, even knowing that there were rapids at the end of the river?" Vert cried out in alarm

"You guys go back to the bridge; you have to let the others know that you're alright. Get them to call the police and ambulance. I will run ahead and see if I can find out what happen to Porkchop and Shirako. Out of us all here, I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who can probably carry them if they're hurt." Karma looked at him, but knew he was right. If Porkchop was hurt, Tork would be the only one who would have any hope of carrying him back to where everyone else was. She looked longingly at the river, and where it leads. She bowed her head in defeat and weariness, but turned her head towards where the other where most likely at.

"Don't worry, both of them are tougher them they look." Taro said, trying to offer her at least a small bit of comfort. She smiled a thin smile, and both her, Taro and Vert began to lightly jog the other way. Tork was already running towards the other end of the river. Karma had said the rapids were only a few kilometers down the river, and considering how fast the river was moving, Porkchop and Shirako had about 10 minutes to get out of the water before they hit the rapids.

Tork kept running, hoping against hope that both of them were ok, when Tork looked up ahead, he saw a figure coming towards him. Tork started to run just a bit faster, still to far away to see details yet. It only took him a short while to finally see that it was Porkchop, and he was carrying Shirako bridal style, but it was how still that Shirako was in Porkchop's arms that scared Tork the most. He looked pale and lifeless from where Tork was running _Oh God no, please don't let him be dead_, Tork didn't think that they could handle another death; it had only been a year and a half since Tone's death. And now to lose Shirako, after saving Vert, it would probably kill the Teku, and the Metal maniacs as well.

-A few moments before Tork.

Shirako gave a strangled gasp as he was shoved under the water. _Fucking hell _he was getting tired of being pushed under the waves all the time. And he still had not yet reached Porkchop. Shirako was swimming with the current, and in doing so was finally starting to catch up to Porkchop. Even from here, Shirako could see Porkchop, and the piece of wood that he was holding on to. The only reason that Porkchop had not yet drowned, since he could not swim and would have sunk like a rock without the wood to help him keep afloat. But Shirako knew that it would make no difference if they were to end up hitting the rapids. Shirako took a deep breath and started to swim towards Porkchop, trying with all of his might reach him. Shirako slowly but steadily began to reach Porkchop, and with a last reach of his arm, Shirako was able to grad onto the 'raft' that Porkchop was holding onto.

"Porkchop! Porkchop, we have to swim toward the bank!" But Porkchop was not listening. His eyes were tightly closed, and his face was pure white. Porkchop was to terrified to think, lost in his fearful mind; all his he was doing was making sure that his body held onto the wood. Shirako felt fear once again enter his body, but he pushed it back with his will alone.

Shirako did not mention the rapids, and how they had probably only a few minutes to get out of the river before they both ended up dead. Porkchop was panicking, and Shirako was sure that if he knew of the rapid, he would go deeper into his little world. Shirako had to think, and he had to do it fast. If Shirako had more time, he would have tried to calm Porkchop's fear, and tell him everything was going to be alright. But the problem was that Shirako had no time to try and calm Porkchop down. They had only a few minutes, and that was it

Shirako took a deep breath, and with all of his might began to shout at Porkchop, right into his ear.

"**You fucking coward!!** You call yourself a god dame man, what the fuck are you, a fucking chicken? **Wake up** you asswhole, or I swear that I will tell everyone what a shitty coward you are at the first sign of some water. Won't that be nice, one of the scariest looking man, only to find out that he screams like a little girl at a small puddle. No Wonder you smell all the time. What does your mother have to threaten you with, a spanking if you don't get in the tube? Of course you never consider the fact that if your scared of water, you might want to get swimming lessons? "

Even through all of this, Porkchop still has his eyes tightly closed, and his face scrunched up in fear and self denial at what was happening. Shirako could feel true anger and fear rising in him at the simple fact that he could not get Porkchop to open up even in the slightest. And the clock was ticking for time. For one second, Shirako had a great erch to leave Porkchop, let him die in the rapids, Shirako could still make it to the shore in time, the others would understand that there was nothing he could have done, right? But Shirako felt sick with himself in the next moment for even considering doing this. Porkchop was his friend, and he was not going to leave him, never mind that fact that he had tolled Tork that he would save Porkchop.

"Your mother's probably ashamed to have a coward for a son! She's probably a fucking coward too, passed it on to you, right?" Shirako knew it was low, but at the moment, he really did not care, as long as it got Porkchop to wake up from his terror.

"Don't you talk about my ma like that, or I swear Shirako that I really will break your nose!" Porkchop growled. Yet even thought Porkchop was now paying attention to what was going on around him, he still was not doing anything, just letting the river have it 's way him. Shirako held on to the piece of wood, his hand already had gone numb to the cold.

"ya, well your fucking mom and dad need to raise their children better, if their son's sacred of water. What they do, threaten you that the water monster would come and eat you if you were a bad boy?! Poor you, well get the fuck over it! " Shirako taunted

"I said, don't talk like that about my parents!!" Porkchop scream at Shirako, anger slowly taking the place of fear inn his eyes.

"Well good for you, scaredy cat, But I'm not the one freaking out over a little bit of water now am I? If I fucking die because of you, I swear to god I will haunt you for the rest of your life, in heaven or hell! You'll never know peace from my music again! Now start kicking with your fucking feet, and let's see if we can swim toward the shore, or are you too weak to even do that? How the hell did you help your parents out around the house if you can't even do this simple thing?" Porkchop gave him the evilest look ever, and Shirako had a feeling that when they reached shore, Porkchop was not going to hold back this time. But if Shirako got a few broken bones, well it was a lot better then dying in the end. Both Porkchop and Shirako were kicking and straining against the current as they started toward the shore.

"Can't you try a little harder?" Shirako kept going, he had to kept talking and screaming at Porkchop, considering that at the moment it was the only thing that kept Porkchop tied to the now.

They were almost there, when disaster struck. Shirako was holding on to the piece of wood with both hands, kicking and pushing the piece of wood to the bank of the shore. Shirako gave a kick, and his right leg exploded in pain as it slammed into something. Shirako gave a strangled scream, and without meaning to, let go of the wood. The next moment Shirako was under the cold hard water. All he knew was pain, pain that kept pulsing back at him every time that he tried to move his leg. He tried to kick, to do anything that would help him get back to the surface, yet he couldn't find the strength to do this. The water graded on with its icy fingers, and seemed to do everything to keep him under. Shirako closed his eyes, he had no idea which way was up or down, he was turning and being twisted every way. His ears were starting to ring from his lack of oxygen, since he had not been able to grad a breath of air before he went under. Shirako slowly started to sink, he had no strength to fight, and wasn't it much easier to just let himself go, his body's weight bringing him deeper and deeper into the darkness. It was at this moment, that out of nowhere a hand grabbed his shirt at his shoulder, and gave a tug. The next moment Shirako's head came up. Shirako began to cough and take great heaps of air, to confused to understand what was going on around him.

"You little twerp, don't you fucking go under like that, and not came the fuck back up!" Porkchop screamed at him, while making sure that one arm was around the piece of wood, and the other holding tightly onto the younger and smaller man beside him. Shirako couldn't have responded to that even if he had wanted to, his eyes still had black spots dancing in them, and his lungs had not quite gotten rid of all the water in them that Shirako had so thoughtfully tried to breathe in.

The river was still rushing around them, bring them closer to their upcoming death, but it seems with Shirako's little display of almost drowning, Porkchop was using all of his strength to swim to the shore. Instead of letting himself became trapped in his own fear, he was focusing all of his strength into trying to get them both to safety. Porkchop took a quick look to were he was holding on to Shirako. The kid looked pale and a bit dazed at his near drowning experience. But other then that he looked none the worse for wear, considering on how they were both being tossed around like rag dolls in the river. Porkchop turned his attention back to his job at hand, and kicked with his legs to reach the shore. In about a few moments, Porkchop felt the ground start to slowly rise to meet them. Only when he was able to stand straight and have the water reach his waist did he let go of the piece of wood that had saved him from drowning.

Shirako was standing as well, but gave a scream when he put his weight on his right leg. The only thing that kept him from falling back into the river was Porkchop's hand on his shoulder. Porkchop had no time to be careful of Shirako's injury; he pulled and dragged Shirako to the top of the bank, as far away from the river as he could manage. The bank wasn't stepped, so in about two minutes they were away from the river with no fear of being pulled back in with a wave. With the fear of being pulled back into the river gone from his mind, he turned to where Shirako had fallen on the ground. He was pale and shivering from the cold, holding tightly onto his right leg with a pained expression on his face. Porkchop got down on his knees, and very gently lifted Shirako up so that he was leaning on Porkchop's chest. Then just as gently, moved Shirako's hands away from the wound on his leg.

Porkchop took one look, and began to swear with all of his might. His pants had been cut right through the material, and his lag was in no better condition. The cut was deep, and jagged looking. Shirako had probably teared it on a sharp rock when he was swimming. But that wasn't the worst of it; it started at his knee and went all the way down to his ankle. Plus it was bleeding badly. Shirako looked up at him with pained filled eyes

"I don't think I can walk on it. Sorry, wasn't paying enough attention." Porkchop snorted at this. Porkchop may get annoyed with Shirako all the time, but he would never, ever want to hurt Shirako, or let anyone else hurt him for that matter. It was kind of like a rule that the only one who was allowed to threaten Shirako was Porkchop. Just like Shirako was the only one who was allowed to bug Porkchop. It was their own little annoying game and theirs alone. Porkchop then looked at the wound again. It was still bleeding; he had to stop the flow of the blood, unfortunately he had nothing on him that would really help. Porkchop grabbed the sleeve of his sweater, and with a great heave ripped it clean of. Shirako looked at him like he had grown another head, but kept silent and just watched to see what Porkchop was up to. With another tear, the sleeve was no longer a sleeve but a nice long bandage. He did the same thing to his other Sleeve, and then began to try and ring them out. With this done, the sleeves were now only damp and not soaking wet. Porkchop looked at Shirako, and knew that he was going to have to cause some pain to the younger man.

"This is going to hurt, but we have to try and stop the blood flow before you loose to much more. I'll try to be quick about it, but other then that there nothing much more I can do" Porkchop looked into Shirako's eyes, so that the younger man knew that he would try his best to not cause any more pain then what was necessary. Shirako gave a strained smile and nodded. He let his head rest for a few seconds on Porkchop's shoulder, and tightly curled his hands into fists

"Ok, I'm ready"

With that said, Porkchop quickly tied the two make shift bandages tightly around Shirako's lag. He gave a pain filled gasp and whimpered at the pain, but other then that he kept his mouth and eyes tightly closed against the pain.

"Thanks" he said weakly when it was done.

"Guess I'm goanna have to carry you then shrimp." With that now said, Porkchop lifted Shirako up onto his shoulder and began to walk. Shirako gave a startled scream at being man handled so easy, and then started to swear at him. Porkchop just smiled, he though he deserved a little revenges for all the things that Shirako had said to him in the river. But he started to walk fast, Shirako's wound had him worried that it might get worse.

Shirako gave a gasp when Porkchop started to walk. _He was not a pack of potatoes meant to be slung on the shoulder and taken home. _The only good thing was that Porkchop did not have boney shoulders, which made it just a little bit more comfortable. Not much, considering on how he was being carried. His head was resting against Porkchop's chest. Shirako was still cursing him, when he was done with English; he switched over to his native language, something that he rarely, if ever did in front of people before. He weakly struggled to get his arms up, so that he could at least get his head to look straight instead of down at Porkchop's feet. But he was tired and aching all over. His body had not yet recovered from his near drowning experience, and the lose of blood from his right leg was starting to affect him. Of course, swimming for you life in freezing cold water did not help out in the least for his condition. And slowly but surly Shirako soon started to get dizzy. Was it just him, of was it a bit hard to breath. His eyes started to get dimmer, and soon his body was starting to go limp.

Porkchop seemed to notice that his human baggage was starting to slowly lose its strength.

"Shirako, are you ok? Hey, answer me!" Porkchop stopped, and with a little slug of his shoulder, Shirako was laying in his arms. He was paler now, almost as white as chock, and his breath was coming out in short gasps. His eyes were glazed over, and his lips had just the faintest tint of blue to them.

"Humm, are we there?" Shirako weakly said. His eyes kept blinking, trying to stay conscience. But his body had finally had enough of the abuse that it had been put through, and had decided that since it was now safe, it was going to shut down for a bit.

"Come on man, don't leave me yet." But it was said in vain. For Shirako's eyes had already closed, and his body went limp.

"Shit Shit Shit SHIT!" Porkchop yelled out, and began to carry Shirako bridal style. Shirako needed help; he was cold and had lost too much blood due to the wound on his leg. Porkchop began to lightly run, while holding Shirako close, as if he was made out of glass and would break at the tinniest touch. Porkchop tried to give Shirako some of his body heat, but considering on how he was freezing just as much, he drought that it would be mush help. In the back of his mind, he noticed that Shirako was no longer shivering, and knew that it was a bad sign. In the distance, he saw a figure come towards them. Porkchop picked up his speed, _please, please let it be help. _


	5. Will He Make It?

"Porkchop

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

Hi there guys, I just want to thank you for all your support and reviews hopefully you all like this chapter. Hopefully you like this chapter as well 4EverFan, even if it is a bit boring. Anyway, tell me what you think.

Oh, just to let me clarify some things.

Karma: 21 Taro: 22 Markie: 19 Nolo: 19

Sydney: 21 Tork: 21 Porkchop: 20 Vert: 19

Shirako: 18 Kurt: 21 Monkey: 19

This is just what I think everyone's age is, and the age in the story. I tried to keep people's age close to each other. If you don't agree, then you can email me, but this is just how I look at them.

--

_Chapter Five:_

_Will He Make It? _

Karma was panting as she and the others ran to where the bridge had fallen off. As she kept her head up, she noticed some people coming towards her.

"There they are." Vert yelled out, as he ran a bit behind Kurma, Taro was right beside her.

"Taro, Karma, Vert!! Are you guys ok?" The next moment, they were surrounded by both the metal maniacs and the Teku. Kurt and Nolo both ran up to Karma and Vert, and then gave them both a hug.

"Thank God" was all that Nolo said, yet the relief in his voice made it quit clear that he had been scared for their safety.

At the same time Monkey gave Taro a hug, while Markie squeezed his shoulder.

"How did you guys get out of there?" Kurt asked, referring to the river.

"Taro was able to help Karma and Tork saved me." Vert replied.

"I knew that you would make it out of there just fine." Markie said with a smile.

"What about the others?" Nolo asked, the same question that was on everyone else mind.

"Tork made it out ok, but Shirako and Porkchop were still in the river. Tork said that he would go after them and see if he could help. We have to call for help, if one of them is hurt..." Kurma gasped out. She was slowly getting her breath back under control, but it had been a hard swim, and then they had been running for the last 10 minutes.

"Already did that. After we crawled across the bridge, Kurt called the police and ambulance, but they said it will take an extra few minutes to get here, since there is no where for them to drive into the clearing. This means that they will have to walk through the forest before they can get to where we are. . They tolled us to stay here and wait for you guys to come back, so that it will be easier to assist the damage and all that."

Karma heisted but in the end nodded, knowing that even if she did find Shirako and the others, there was nothing that she could do to help them out. The best that she could do was wait for them to return, and hope that the no one was hurt. With that said, they all turned quite and looked to where the river was rushing by, wondering if their friends had survived.

"Porkchop!! Porkchop!!"

Tork yelled out, as he started to run toward Porkchop. Porkchop was lightly jogging, trying not to cause too much movement to Shirako who was in his arms. As he got to Porkchop, Tork began to fear the worst.

"Oh God, is he-" Tork asked with fear in his voice. Shirako was pale and wasn't moving. Porkchop was carrying him bridal style, with Shirako's face leaning against Porkchop's chest. Seeing the smaller man being carried by a giant like Porkchop makes him look so small and delicate, almost like a glass doll.

"No, but he's hurts; his leg has a deep cut and I can't stop the bleeding."

"Thank god, I was afraid that you guys might not have gotten out of the water in time."

"What are you talking about? What's the big deal about getting out of the water?"

"Karma said that there are some rapids down the river, a few kilometers' from here. About another two minutes from here if you were still being carried by the river. Thank God you both made it out of there alive." Tork said, and with that he griped Porkchop's arm, almost as if in thanks that he was still alive.

Porkchop smiled, and then a troubled look came over his face. "Did Shirako know about this? The rapids I mean, and how close they are?"

"Ya, he heard Karma telling Taro about it. He's the one who actually went down the river to try to get you to swim to the shore. Shirako tolled me to go after Vert, and that he would go after you."

"He knew…"

"What's wrong?" Tork asked, Porkchop looked like he had just found out that his dog had died.

Porkchop looked up, "I almost didn't listing to him. He was screaming at me to swim, but I didn't want to listing. I thought that if I just held on to the piece of wood, that the river would slow down and then I could just float to the shore. But Shirako kept up. He wouldn't leave me alone."

Porkchop gave a small chuckle. "He's lucky, I was ready to pound in his face for all the insulted that he threw at me and my family. But, he could have died trying to save me. And he knew it; he knew that we were coming up to the rapids, and that we would have been killed."

Tork looked at Porkchop's troubled face, and realize that Porkchop was blaming himself for what had happened.

"Stop that right now. It's not your fault. The bridge fell apart; none of us could have predicted that. And you had no idea that there were rapids coming up. Shirako saved you because you are his friend. Just as Shirako is your friend. Annoying friend, but still your friend. And don't forget that you went back for him when he got hit by the drone and his car flipped. (Third movie, when they were saving Markie) Look, the best that we can do for him right now, is to get him some medical help. Other then that, all we can do is be by his side."

Porkchop looked at Tork, and nodded. "What about the others, are they all ok?"

"They're all alright. I got Vert out of the water, and Taro got Karma. Karma's the one who tolled me about the rapids. I tolled them to find everyone else, and make sure they call for some help. Hopefully, there will be some help when we get to them."

With that said, they both just concentrated on getting back to the others, and praying that Shirako would be ok.

Karma was sitting down and waiting, her eyes towards the river. She was cold and wet, even with the blanket the medics had given her. They had finally shown up about a minute ago. They were still checking that the others were alright. They had tried to get her to go back to where the ambulances where parked, "Just to make sure that there is nothing wrong", but she had basically tolled them that she was not moving until her friends came back. After that, they had given up and moved to the next person. There were two police officers that came as well, and where getting the story of what happened from Kurt. Markie had stayed back, not wanting to attract any unnecessary attention to himself. Vert also had a heating blanket on as well; the medicals had brought a lot when they heard what had happened. Unfortunately the weather was chilly, and being washed away in the cold river, did not help her body heat. She had a feeling that she and the others were going to wake up tomorrow to find they have a nasty cold. Yet even with these thoughts, she did not move a singe bit. Taro was beside her, and she felt thankful for his silence, not in the mood to really have a conversation. The other seems to be able to sense her need to do this, and left her alone. As she sat there, she let her mind rounder, not really thinking about the fear that someone might have drowned. She felt numb; her body tired from its fight with the river, and just watched ahead as if nothing else mattered then this self appointed job. As she sat there, she saw two people running towards her, for a moment her foggy mind did not register this fact, but as she watched for a bit longer, she finally realized that it was Porkchop and Tork. And,_ Oh God No, Please _she thought with fear as she saw that Porkchop was carrying Shirako's limp form.

She jumped up and began to run a bit ahead. As she stood there, she ignored the other's shouts of recognition then horror as they realized what they were seeing, and what it might mean. Finally, after what felt like years, Tork and Porkchop were only a few feet away. As she ran up to them, all she could look at was Shirako's pale face.

"Please God, please don't-" Karma begged, almost as thinking that if she prayed hard enough, then it would turn out alright. As she looked up at Porkchop and Tork, she could only stare helplessly, begging them to not tell her what she feared the most.

"No, he's still alive, but he has a bad cut on his leg, and because of this lost a lot of blood. He needs help right away." Tork gasped out, as they were jogging back to where the others and the medics where.

Karma didn't say anything, only felt relief that Shirako was still with them. Yet at the same time, felt fear come with that relief, wondering if Shirako would make it. As they made it to the clearing, where everyone was waiting, the medics took no time to whisk Shirako out of Porkchop's arms, and into blankets. They were about to put him on a stretcher, but Porkchop took Shirako back into his arms, and started to walk through the forest. "It's faster this way then having him on a stretcher" he mumbled. While this was going on, everyone was silent, fearing the worst.

"He's still alive, but he has a deep cut on his leg. He lost a look of blood, and we couldn't stop the bleed. Due to the simple fact that everything we had was wet." Tork explained to the others. Everyone had on grim faces, but nodded. They followed Porkchop's lead through the forest, almost as if everyone was in a trance. The silence was thick, almost like a blanket that had covered everyone. Yet at the same time no one said a word, almost afraid that if they were to break the spell, then it would mean something bad would happen.

So after what felt like a thousand years, and at the same time only a few seconds, they were outside, and the medics where moving towards Shirako, Shirako who had yet to move, and bring him towards one of the ambles. There where three of them parked outside. The vans where actual on the glass, haven driven right up to the path that went into the forest. At this Karma moved towards one of the medics.

"I'm coming with you." She said to a young and thin looking man with brown hair.

None of the other's seemed surprise at her statement. Most of them understand that Karma and Shirako had a close relationship.

"I'm sorry, but unless you are direct family-" He started to say

"Let her come. It's not goanna hurt anyone, plus she might help us out if we need to know anything." This came from an older woman who looked to be in her 40's, with kind eyes that at the same time held a bit of wisdom in them. She was a bit plump with brown hair just starting to turn to silver. With this said, they both moved to the ambulance, and started to get in. They laid Shirako down on the bed and Karma mover so that she was standing right beside the bed. She took her hand, and slowly started to weave it across his hair. It was something that she and Shirako's sister use to do when he was smaller. She and his sister had been best friends since grade one. Later, Karma found out that Sydney had a little brother, who did not have any friends since they made fun of his accent. After that both her and Sydney began to included him in their games on the play ground during recess. Not that Karma minded, Shirako was actually really nice to them and she found him to be cute. Karma had two older brothers, she had been a bit of a mistake on her parents part, and was about 7 years younger then her brothers. Because of this, they tended to not have enough time to play with her as a child. So Karma had found it nice to have a younger like brother to play with. They became even closer when Karma found out Shirako's love for cars, and they spent more time together as friends.

"I'll meet you guys at the hospital" Karma yelled out to the others, just as the ambulance doors began to shut.

--

Kurt looked around, at the moment; everyone was in the waiting room, due to the fact that the doctors were looking after Shirako. The cut on his leg was very deep, and he lost a lot of blood. They had to have the cut clean so it wouldn't get infected and were sowing it up. The doctor's had tolled them that Shirako was going to be fine, though he had to stay at the hospital for a few days just to make sure that he was alright. Everyone had relaxed after that, and were now just waiting until they could go and see him. Porkchop looked really nerves, of course being saved by someone who got hurt doing this could be the reason. Porkchop had tolled them the full story a few minutes ago to pass the time as they waited.

"I got here as fast as I could. Fucking partner kept asking me what was going on." A young woman walked in wearing a police uniform. She looked to be about 20 or 21. The nurse at the desk gave her a look at her choice of language, but the women ignored it. At the moment she was walking toward Karma, and looking at her, Kurt knew that she had to be Shirako's sister. She sat down beside Karma and Karma began to tell her everything that had happen. During this time, Kurt took the time to look her over. She was of average height, thin, with pale skin. She had long black hair that ran to the middle of her back. She had a narrow face, with full lips and high cheekbones. But it was her eyes that really gave it away that she was Shirako's sister. They both had the exact same bright crystal blue eyes.

"Jesus Christ, of course he's the only one who get's hurt." She said in annoyance.

At this point, Monkey piped up. "Those cupcakes that you made for the picnic were really good. Shirako said that he would tell you, but well since you're here at the moment." During the whole time that he said this, he had kept his gaze on the floor, only looking up at the end.

The women, Sydney, Kurt believed that was what Karma had called her, looked confused for a moment. Yet as the others said added their thank you's and complements for her cooking, she gave everyone a look, and then burst out laughing. Everyone gave her confused looks, not really understanding what she found to be so funny. Even Karma was quietly laughing.

"I'm sorry; I'm not really laughing at you. It's just every single one of you has been duped. I can't cook to save my life; every time I even try I always end up with a fire in the kitchen. "

"But, Shirako said-" Vert stuttered, not understanding

Sydney smiled "Shirako baked those cupcakes for you. We basically live on our own, so he does all the cooking at home. He's a really good cook, but he was afraid that if you guys knew that it was him that made those cupcakes, then you would probably make a big deal out of it. You know, it being uncool that a guy bakes cakes on his free time."

Kurt smirked, "I'll have to mention this to him later."

"Don't make to much fun of him, ok?"

If you don't mind me asking, where are your parents at the moment?" Taro asked

Sydney tensed for a second, and then looked away. "My parents are divorced; my dad is so wrapped up in his new perfect family, that he wouldn't give it a second thought if he found out that Shirako was hurt. My mom, will unless she is trying to impress someone, she wouldn't care." All of this was said very bitterly.

"But surly if she knew that Shirako almost died-" This coming form Nolo

"Ha! My mom would only scream at him for interrupting an important meeting that she was having. The last time Shirako was in a hospital was when he was 9. He fell from a tree and broke his ankle. My mom gave in, and then slapped him, because she said that he interrupted this important meeting that she was having. And how it took months to plan this meeting out, and now it was all wasted. Of course, the minute the doctor came in; she was hugging him and telling him how worried she was. Like I said, my mom really wouldn't care. Not that it matters anymore, we just make sure that we're there for each other to make up for it."

It was at that moment, that a nurse came into the room

"If you all want, you can go and see him, but try to be quite, he's still sleeping, due to the fact that we had to put him under for a while.

--

Well, I think that's it for this chapter. Anyway, I have about one more chapter I think, and then this story will be done. Hopefully you like it. :P


	6. Waking Up

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and their friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of their friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

Sixth chapter: Waking up

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

Hey there everyone, sorry that it took me so long to update, had some family problems to deal with, anyway, everything is fine now, so I will be back to writing stories and all that fun. Hope that you guys aren't to upset at me. Oh, I'm really sorry about the spelling problems in Chapter 5, I'm trying to break the habit of spelling Karma's and Taro's name wrong, so bear with me please. Anyway, here you go.

--DP-- : means different person, just so you guys don't get confused

_Chapter 6:_

_Waking up_

Both the Metal maniacs and the Teku were sitting in a white room, with a small bed off to one side of the room, with its head board against the wall. Beside the bed and close to the wall was a heart beat monitor with its soothing and constant beep and an IV bag. At the moment, the room was filled with quite conversations going on, everyone being careful not to talk too loudly in the room, least they wake up the person sleeping soundly in the bed. Of course, then having to face the wrath of the two women by the bed was a factor as well. The first one, with her long black hair covering her face like a curtain, was sitting right up against the bad, or as close as her chair would allow her to be. She had one hand going through the hair of the sleeping young man in the bed. She had a small smile on her lips as she watched him lean into her touch even in sleep. Another woman, with straight brown hair that reached just a bit below her shoulders was sitting in a chair by the young man's feet. He had been sleeping for two days now, the doctors saying that it was quite normal due to the trial that he had gone through, and then being put under to have his right leg stitched up. Even thought they had been tolled that he was going to be fine, everyone was still waiting in his room, having been there all day yesterday, and would be here all day today, until he woke up. It seemed that everyone just wanted to be there, just to convince themselves that he was indeed going to make it, and they would not have to face another loss. All of them fearing the devastation that would follow this loss, so soon after the last one that they had faced. Indeed, one large man with orange hair looked nerves, and every few minutes would throw a glance to the young man sleeping in the bed, as if to make sure that he was still there.

--DP--

It was dark, _and warm. _That was the first thing his tired mind registered. Slowly, very slowly, as if his body was against it he began waking up from the dreamless sleep that he had been in. The next thing that he registered was that there was a hand that was slowly and lightly going through his hair. Not that he minded, it felt nice and helped him to keep relaxed. Finally, the sound of quite talking filled his ears, to quite to make out what anyone was saying, but it was voices that he knew he should know. He realized then that he was lying in a bed, but, it was not his own. Just by the simple fact that there was no music. Not to mention that there was this annoying beeping every few seconds. For a few more moments, Shirako kept his eyes closed, and his body relaxed. He just let himself enjoy the warmth of the bed, and the hand that was still going through his hair. He tried hard to remember what had happened, cause, he somehow knew that it was important, though he didn't understand why he knew. For another few moments, he slowly tried to remember. But his memories were muggy and all jumble together, and he knew that he was still missing a few. There had been a picnic, with the Teku, and the metal maniacs had come as well. He remembered that much. They had raced to the clearing, and then had eating lunch together. Shirako paused, he couldn't quite remember after that. There had been a river, and water, lots of water, cold numbing water. That had tried to pull him down. He had fallen… no jumped into the water. Because …because…._**Taro, Karma, Vert, Tork, and Porkchop had fallen in, and had disappeared in the river!!**_

Shirako gave a strangle gasp and threw himself up from the bed and its blankets that seem to be trying to keep him pinned. He ignored the beeping to his left that had just increased rapidly, almost to the point were it was just one long beep, and flung his head to where his sister was. Automatically knowing it was her, since ever since he was little she would run her hand through his hair when ever he was hurt or upset. Without even waiting for a pause, Shirako began to talk to her in his native langue. Something that he only did when he was deeply upset.

"Sydney!! Sydney!! Karma,-Taro,-Vert,-Tork-and-Porkchop-feel-into-a-river-and-were-swept away!- Do-you-know-if-they-ok,-do-you-know-if-they-made-it?!-Porkchop-made-it-out-with-me,-and-I-last-saw-Karma-with-Taro-and-Tork-with-Vert!" Shirako was struggling to get out of the bed, but he was getting twisted in the sheets, not to mention that he felt strangely weak. He was panting, and a small part of him realized that his right leg was on fire, but he ignored it in the face of his concern for his friends. He knew that he was panicking, but he was so scared that one of his friends might have been hurt when he had been sleeping all comfortable in a bed. And a small part of him realized that there was a chance that one of them could be dead. With that thought, he began to struggle even harder, _one of them might have died already and he would never get the chance to say good-bye again. _And that god damn beeping would not shut up; it just kept getting faster and faster, just like his heart, which he dimly realized was racing from his hard fear.

"**Shirako Tetamoto!! You hold it right there, or god help me I will destroy every singe Cd you have!" **Sydney yelled at him in their native tongue, with the voice of command. There were other cries of "Shirako" being yelled out, but Shirako ignored them for the time bring.

Shirako stop struggling so much on the bed, but that was mainly because his sister had flung herself over him so that her hands were on his shoulders with all her weight, keeping him pinned to the bed. Shirako weekly struggled against the iron grip, and a small part of him wondered how she got so fringing strong.

Shirako cried out in English "But, But the others, they fell in the riv-"

Shirako gave a small cry of pain, now that he was no longer panicking as much, his right leg decided to remind him that it had been hurt less then two days ago, and it _did not appreciate_ the fact that he had been using it to try and kick the blankets off him. Shirako bit his lip hard and squeezed his eyes close, trying to fight the tears that came with the pain. His fingers bit into his palm as he squeezed them, hoping that the pain from his hands would help to get his mind off the pain from his leg. He took a few straggled gasps of air, hoping that it would help bring the pain down. His sister right away took her hands of his shoulder, and then very gently brought him to her chest almost as if to protect him form his own pain, just like a mother would. She moved his pillows up as Shirako took a moment to slowly bring himself up and untangle himself from the blankets, so that he was sitting up and not laying. At the same time he felt a small blush rise to his cheeks as he looked at what he was wearing. He was basally wearing a light blue cloth that was shaped like a house coat. There was a string at his right hip that tied the cloth together. He also noted that it was a bit on the short side. He brought his blanked up around his waist and thanked God that the blankets had not fallen off when he had been struggling to get up. That would have been bad.

"Shh, it's ok. Now are you going to stop freaking out, and let me tell you what's going on, or do you want me to belt you one?" His sister said sweetly, this time in English. Shirako looked at her, and then had to blink a few times when she wavered in and out of his vision.

"Now, if you were to look around, you would see that every singe one of your friends is here. " Shirako stop and did what she said. It was at that point that he realized that she was right. In fact, everyone single one of them had rushed over to his bed the minute the heart monitor had gone into overdrive. Shirako felt the heat rise into his cheeks, as he became the center of attention.

"Oh…did anyone of you get hurt?" He weakly said.

Karam smiled at him. "You were the only one who had to go to the hospital. How are you feeling?"

Shirako pause, and then answered truthfully. "Weak. My leg really hurts, and I'm kina tired. But other then that I'm fine."

"Ya, well no more freaking out, you need all the rest you can get." Nolo commanded as the leader of the Teku.

"You just about gave me a heart attack with that little stunt just now." Kurt laughed. And with that, everyone else added their little comments and good wished about getting well.

It was at this moment that Porkchop pushed through, having hidden behind everyone when Shirako calmed down. As Porkchop looked down at Shirako, everyone seemed to quite down, knowing that Porkchop had been waiting to say this ever since he found out that Shirako had risked his life to save him.

"Hey, look, I, uh, just wanted to say thank you, for, you know, saving me and all that. And I'm real sorry that you got hurt helping me out too." Porkchop said nervously, all the while not really looking Shirako in the face. As if preparing himself for what Shirako might say back to him.

Shirako found himself once again turning bright red. "Hey man, don't worry about it. I owed you one anyway, and besides in the end you saved me too. So see, no big deal" Porkchop didn't look convinced, but at the same time, he was no longer looking like someone was going to shoot him.

"Aww aren't that soo cute, I think I'm kinda hurl!" Markie yelled out, but that was all it took to beak the silence, as Kurt punched Markie and a few of the others glared at him. Yet most of them just laughed, and began to talk once again.

"Hey, how long till I can get out of here?" Shirako asked, as Vert and the other's finally finished telling him what happened after he passed out. Luckily no one made a big deal out of the fact that he had passed out, and then had to be carried to the medics. Shirako found it embarrassing, considering in all the movies, it's always the girls that passed out. He knew it was really stupid of him to think like that, but really, you don't really feel like a man when someone is bridal style carrying you to help.

"The doctors said probably in another day or two, depending on how your leg is healing. They said that since the cut was so deep, they just want to make sure that it heals properly before they let you out." Taro answered. Considering that it was due to Taro that Shirako had a full room to himself, it was Taro and Sydney that the doctors talked too.

Shirako looked a bit upset over this, but at the same time knew that it was probably for the best. "Are you guys going to visit me again, or are you guys busy?" Shirako asked around, letting them know that he meant both the Teku and the metal maniacs.

"Of course we will all came and visit you. You don't even have to ask." Karma said, speaking for everyone, as they all nodded their heads and added their agreements.

"Hey, do any of you know what happen to my earphones?" Shirako asked, as he realized that it was not on the small table beside him.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering which one of them should break the news to him. Karma gave a small sigh, as she gave the sign that she would break the new to him.

"Shirako, when you jumped into the river, they got swept away. "

"Oh" Shirako looked heart broken as he realized that his headset that he had had for years was now gone.

His sister took one look and with a sigh, ruffled his hair. Almost everyone there sniggered at the siblings play fight.

"Hey!" Shirako yelled at her, as he pushed her away from him, and tried to brush his hair with his fingers.

"I'll go get you a new headset tonight and load some of your songs on it, and then tomorrow I can give it to you. Pulse, I will also bring you a pair of cloths to wear too. Ok?' Sydney said with humour dancing in her eyes. Considering that she had been the closet to him when he had tried to fling his blankets off, she had been able to see just what it was that he was wearing.

Shirako glared at her, as he once again felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

Shirako did not know how long they had been talking after that, only that it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. It was about the sixth time that he had slightly jerked up when he was about to fall asleep that Karma got up.

"Alright, I think it's time to leave, since Shirako here is ready to fall asleep." Shirako felt himself blush once again as everyone looked at him. He looked down at his blankets so that they could not see his face, and began hopping that his leg would heal really, really fast, cause he was getting tired of blushing all the time.

With that said everyone began to slowly leave, with good wishes and promises to visit tomorrow. Karma was the last to leave, but not before she kissed his forehead and wished him sweet dreams.

"I'll be back in a few hours. I'll pick you something to eat as well." With that, Karma left

Sydney looked at him and smiled.

"All right then, I think it's time for you to get some sleep." Sydney paused, and as an after thought she added "You know something, you really have good friends."

Shirako playfully pouted at her, but he offered no complaints when she helped him to lie down. He was really tired, to the extent that for the last 10 minutes it had seemed that everyone had started to become blurry.

"I know. I'm really glad that I met them all." Shirako gave a yawn "I don't know why I'm so tired, I slept for two days already, and I've only been up for a few hours."

"Considering what you had gone through, how much blood you lost, and the fact that your body is trying to heal, I'm not surprise. Pulse, you might still have a bit of the sleeping drugs the doctors gave you in your system. Now go to sleep."

"Are you going to be here when I wake up?" Shirako asked. If anyone else had heard him, they would think It was just a normal question. But looking into Shirako's eyes, Sydney knew that he was asking her to stay here with him. Not that she blamed him. Sleeping in a place that you have never slept before, and with people you don't know would be a bit scary. Not to mention that he was hurt, and hospitals were scary to begin with. She smiled at him, and once again started to weave her hand in and out of his hair.

"Of course I'll be here when you wake up. Just go to sleep, I'll be right here" With that said, Shirako once again relaxed into the bed and within a few minutes was fast asleep. Ever since the day they realized that both their parents truly did not care about them, they both had made sure that they were at least there for each other. Sydney shook her head; he should have known that she would be there when he woke up without having to ask her.

It was about two hours later that Karma came back, carrying some fast food in her hand. "Hey, I'll keep a watch over him, if you want to go get him some of his stuff." Karma said, while passing her a bag of food.

Sydney smiled. They were both very protective of Shirako, and she felt no hesitation in leaving Shirako with Karma, knowing that Karam was like an older sister to Shirako. Karma took her chair, and began to weave her hand in and out of his hair. Sydney took one look and started to leave but she would be back here right after that. And then they would both look after their little brother, until the next day when his friends would once aging arrived.

I wasn't planning on it being such a family thing at the end of this chapter, but I kinda like how it turned out. Anyway, I got one more chapter after this, and then this story will be done. Hopefully you all like it. :)


	7. Back to Normal

Title: Anger over Fear

Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and their friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of their friends.

Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.

Chapter seven: Back to Normal

**Disclaimer**: Don't own Acceleracers

Alright, this is the last chapter in my story. I have Karma telling everything from her point of view in this story, don't ask me why, but I just couldn't get a feel for anyone else at the moment. Hope you like. Tell me what you think. : )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Chapter 7:_

_Back To Normal_

It had been two months since Shirako had gotten out of the hospital, and another three week's till he was able to walk properly and not feel any pain or weakness. For the first three weeks, both teams had kept an eye on him, and made sure that he did not over do anything. The doctors had recommended that he get lots of sleep, and made sure that he did not have too mush stress to deal with, since his body was still recovering. Considering the way that Shirako kept hiding any pain that he felt and down played any weariness, Karma felt that it was a good thing that so many people were keeping an eye on him. Of course, during the whole three weeks, Shirako had glared at all of them at one point or another. Of course, given how Markie would laugh whenever someone would tell Shirako to take a break or anything, she really couldn't blame him. Mind you, after the three weeks, the teams had still been treating Shirako as if he was hurt.

She still laughed when ever she thought of how Shirako had gotten rid of that problem a month ago:

_It been a week since the doctors had tolled Shirako that he was as healthy as ever, and other then a very light scare that was only noticeable if it was pointed out, he was fine. Yet Nolo and the others were still treating Shirako as if he was hurt._

"_Nolo, I'm fine. The doctor's said that I'm as healthy as can be. And besides, it's just a race." Shirako said this very calmly and in his slow English that hides his accent. Yet despite his voice and words, it was the anger that had flashed in his eyes for a second when Nolo had hesitated when Shirako had asked to race. Even now, it was the only thing that had given away that he was frustrated. _

"_I don't know Shirako. I know the Doctors said that you're ok, but I really don't want you to get hurt again just because you put too mush stress on your leg."_

"_My leg is perfectly fine. It's already been a month and I don't feel any pain from it now. I haven't raced at all, if I don't race soon; I'm going to be out of practice." _

"_I don't know Shirako, why don't you wait another few days."_

_Shirako's face was emotionless, even his eye's were hooded, yet as he started to walk a few steps away, he suddenly spun on his right leg, the one that was hurt, and before anyone could say anything, Shirako had jumped to his left foot and kicked with his right leg, so that his foot was only a few inch's away from Nolo's face. He held it for a few seconds, and then dropped it while ignoring the cries from Vert and Kurt at his action._

"_I'm fine, the doctor's said that a week ago, so stop babying me. Cause I'm going to race with, or without your permission." _

_There had been a tense silence, everyone knew that if Nolo wanted too, he could have kicked Shirako off the team at this point, and Shirako knew it too. Nolo glared at Shirako for a moment, then sighed. _

"_Alright. I guess your right. The doctor said you were fine, so you can race."_

"_Thank you" Shirako gave a small bow and ran off to race. _

"_That was a good choice" Karma said_

"_Well I couldn't just kick him off the team, not after every thing that we've been through, and I guess that maybe we were kind of babying him a bit much."_

At the time everyone had been so shocked at Shirako's actions, him being so easy going and calm. Not to mention that most of them forgot that Shirako knew how to fight. It was a very rare sight to see Shirako upset or mad, do to the fact that he usually kept his emotions hidden from everyone.

After that, the team had gotten back to its normal way, with Shirako listening to his new earphones, and the others just joking around.

Actually, the only person who was not back to their normal self was Porkchop. He always kept a few feet of distance between himself and Shirako. For the last two moths, he hadn't said a word to Shirako, always running away. Even with Shirako blaring his music away, Porkchop hasn't even given him a glare. All of the other's had notices this as well; Tork and Toro just shook their heads or shrugged their shoulders when the Teku had given them questioning looks about Porkchop's new fear of Shirako. Yet the one who was most hurt out of Porkchop's behavior was Shirako himself. Though he never said anything, and always kept his smile on, Karma had seen the hurt that had flashed through his eyes and the way his smile had dimmed when Porkchop had almost skittered away from him, like a scared mouse.

At the moment, both the teams were at the rocky mouton where they had been racing when Kurt, Vert, Toro and Markie had met Gigs again. It had become almost a habit for the teams to meet here every few months just to race each other and talk about the past.

Karma took a look around at everyone. Almost all the racers were here; right now they were just waiting on Kurt and Markie. Nolo had just gotten a call from them saying they were going to be a few minutes late due to an accident that had happened on the road in front of them. So now most of them were doing a quick check over their engines while they were waiting. She was watching Toro work, the way that his face would go all calm while he was working on his car. How he looked really good while leaning over the engine, especially since he was wearing a smug shirt that showed off his very nice, in shape upper body.

"You look like your going to tie him up and eat him alive. Mind you, I don't think he would put up too much of a struggle." Shirako comment very quietly behind her, so that the others would not hear

Karma turned bright red and gave a swift jerk of her hand, which Shirako quickly ducked as to not get hit. At the moment he was smiling at her, while she just glared back.

"Little boy's should mind their own business." She hissed at him. Why was it that he was able to always know what she was thinking? None of the others knew she had a crush on Toro. Besides, She was not one of those girls who fell in love with every good looking guy who passed by her. In fact, she had been pissed off at herself for even having a crush on Toro. She hated not being in control of her body.

"Big girls should just ask the guy they like out on a date. You never know, you might just have some fun going on a date with him." Shirako replied, interrupting her train of thought.

She gave him a look, which Shirako just smiled and laughed. Out of everyone Karma knew, Shirako was the only one who didn't flinch even a little bit when she glared at him.

"Hey, I'm goanna try something, so I'll be right back."

Karma stopped what she was doing, and watched as Shirako got into his car. It was then that she noticed that Shirako did not have his music on very loud; in fact he had it turned off. The only reason that she had not noticed earlier was that both Nolo and Vert both had their music on, mind you, it was not as loud as when Shirako had his music on. She stood still as he turned the engine on, and slowly began to drive up to where the Metal Manias were. Both Tork and Toro had stopped what they wee doing and stood back as to watch Shirako. Monkey opened his mouth, but before he could even say a word Tork had already hushed him up. It was at this point that Shirako had finally driven right up near Porkchop, who was so busy with working on his engine that he was lost to the world. He had the car's lid up and was leaning in the engine. He was grumbling about something or another, which led to the thought that Porkchop was fixing something. Karma was to far away to see what the problem was, but at this distance she could see that he was moving a tool in his hand around in the engine.

Karma smiled, she had a feeling that Shirako had waited for just that moment when Porkchop was to busy to realize what was going on, before he had driven up beside him. For a moment there was a pause. Shirako was smiling, like a child who was going to do something that he was not suppose to do. At this point, everyone had stopped what they were doing and was watching the show. Even the Metal Maniacs were keeping quite, as to not let Porkchop know what was going on. Shirako had his window's down, and had one arm out and leaning on it. He pushed a button on his control pad that was on his wrist and-

_**MUSIC!! LOUAD MUSIC!!**_

Karma and everyone else there jump at least two feet in the air. Shirako had turned his music on at full blast. So that even this far away Karma could feel the bass in her bones. Porkchop had jumped as well, and had hit his head on the roof of the car. Porkchop spun around, and started to scream at Shirako. Yet due to the fact that Shirako had his music turned on all the way up, meant that no matter how loud Porkchop screamed you wouldn't be able to hear him over the sound.

Just as suddenly as the music had turned on, Shirako had turned it off. Of course that did not stop Porkchop from yelling at him.

"**- blem! Are you trying to burst my eardrums!?! Or are you too stupid to realize that I like my hearing just the way it is? I swear to god I am going to wreak your God dame stereo car, and every single CD you fucking own!!"**

Porkchop took a breath and opened his mouth to continue his rant when Shirako spook in the silence.

"I'm fine."

Porkchop look taken back for a moment

"What are you talking abo-"

"I can walk, run and dance just fine. The doctors said that there is nothing wrong with me, that I am perfectly healed now. You can't even notice the scar unless someone points it out. I can take care of myself; I'm not going to break any time soon. If you're still upset over what happen, then go and get swimming lessons so that you never have to worry about drowning again. But having you mopping around is just creepy and annoying. Really, it doesn't help your look at all, and trust me, it's bad enough as it is."

Porkchop stood still for a moment, as what Shirako said to him finally sunk in. Of course what that happened, he realize that Shirako had just insulted him at the end of his little speck as well.

"Why you fucking, no for good son of a-"

It was at that moment, that Shirako had thrown his car into reveres and gave a laugh as he drove backwards a meter or two. Of course, he then had to do this fancy move that had the car due a half circle which results in the tires giving a screech and a lot of smoke to drift around with the back of the car now facing Porkchop and the rest of the Metal maniacs.

Karma and just about everyone else laughed as Porkchop was still screaming name's at Shirako, who was driving around the Teku and coming to park beside Karma. Of course during all of this he had put his music back on, so that Porkchop had become a background noise.

It was then that Kurt and Markie show up and both drove to their teams. Kurt drove up beside Nolo, and even from here Karma could see him asking about Porkchop, who was still screaming and waving his wrench around. She gave a quick look to where Markie was, and saw that Tork was also telling him what had taken place. Yet considering how the metal maniacs where all smiling, Karma knew that they were happy that Shirako had gotten Porkchop back to normal.

She gave a small laugh and started toward her car, it would only be a few more minutes before Nolo and Tork beside who was going to race who. And she for one couldn't wait for the race to start.

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Hope that you all liked my story, don't hold back on what you thought about it. This is still new to me so any advice you want to share, I'll love to hear it. Like I said, it's still new, so try not to be too hard. Thanks : )


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